Are You In Prison?

Today in Melbourne, Australia we visited the Old Melbourne Gaol. Inside the Gaol, dangerous criminals were held alongside petty offenders, the homeless and the mentally ill. Between 1842 and its closure in 1929 the gaol was the scene of 133 hangings including Australia’s most infamous citizen, the bushranger Ned Kelly.

As we toured this historical site, I thought about our personal prisons. What self imposed prisons do we sentence ourselves to? Some of these sentences are listed below.

Fear
Prejudice
Jealousy
Hatred
Greed
Depression
Anxiety
Loneliness

How can we free ourselves from these self imposed prison sentences?

Love is the door to freedom.

We must love ourselves. We must love others. We must accept love from others. We must love God.

The best way to learn to love ourselves and God is by loving others. When we love others we remove the focus on us and place it on others. We can help someone. We can listen to someone. We can hug someone who is sad. We can listen to someone. We can sit and spend time with someone. We can assist those in our community who need help by supporting the work of a local organization or church.

Sometimes, we are the one who needs to be loved. We must accept this love. It is ok to accept this love. It is a gift from God.

Love is a muscle that must be exercised. We need to exercise it over and over again. Accepting love and sharing love will free us from our self imposed prisons.